Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood was once a great volcano known to the Northwest Indians as Wy'east, a mountain god who spouted flame and hurled boulders skyward. The first recorded white men saw the mountain in 1792 and named her Hood, after an admiral of the English Royal Navy. Today Mt. Hood rests at 11,235 feet above sea level. Twelve glaciers and five ridges tempt and challenge climbers from all over the world. There is some debate as to when the summit was first reached: either in 1845 or 1857. The first women made the ascent in skirts in 1867. Since those early days, hundreds of thousands have scaled Oregon's highest peak, and today Mt. Hood is the most frequently climbed glaciated peak in North America.
All climbers and backcountry travelers going above the Palmer lift are required to complete a Wildneress Permit at the climbers register at Timberline Lodge and to carry a copy of the permit with them while in the backcountry.

Summiting Shasta

Summiting Shasta
Shasta is a mountain of fire and ice, a place where you can find a challenge and an answer, both mysteries and truths. The challenge is the climb and the answer is that you can likely complete it. The mysteries are of Lemurians, Yaktayvians and Phylos, creatures who are said to inhabit the inner mountain. The truth is only for you to find. At 14,162 feet, Mount Shasta rises like a giant diamond in a field of coal. Located 60 miles north of Redding, it is the jewel of Northern California, and can sometimes be seen for more than a hundred miles in all directions.
Climbing Shasta is one of the west's great adventures, an endurance test that most people in good physical condition have an honest chance of achieving. But Shasta stands apart because of its sheer size with a volume of 80 cubic miles, it's the highest of Northern California's peaks, the largest of the Cascade volcanoes. Much of it is gouged with glacial canyons.

Climbing Joshua TreeNational Park

Climbing Joshua TreeNational Park
There are over 4,500 climbing routes within the park. Most of them are between one and two pitches in length. It's very easy to become overwhelmed and lost among the endless formations, so my goal here is to focus on four classic spots, each suited to climbers of a specific ability level.
The best months to be in the high desert of Joshua Tree are from October to December and from March through April.
The rock at Joshua Tree is a variety of granite known as quartz monzonite. It varies in quality but is generally solid. Quartz monzonite can be very abrasive and it may take a while for newcomers to the area to develop calluses. Whether you prefer crack, face, or friction climbing, there are literally thousands of wonderful routes available to toughen you up.

Southeast Alaska

Southeast Alaska is the region nearest the contiguous United States, and its wet, lush environment reflects its proximity to the Pacific Northwest. Most of Alaska's "panhandle," an intricate strip of islands and channels, cannot be reached by road. Southcentral Alaska, on the other hand, is linked by miles of pavement, connecting travelers to both the urban and the wild.
To the north lies the Interior, anchored to the more populous Southcentral by Alaska's few highways. This alternately hot and arid, numbingly cold region basically consists of everything but the coasts and the Arctic.
Everything that cannot be reached by car — the Arctic, Kodiak Island, the west and southwest, the Alaskan Peninsula, and the Aleutians — everything that's more wilderness than civilization is the Bush.

Little Zion

The Mormons who named the wild canyon country in southwestern Utah"Little Zion" knew a promised land when they saw it. The 150,000 acres that are now Zion National Park are a true desert paradise.
Throughout the park wind-sculpted sandstone arches, sheer, multihued canyon walls, plateaus, canyons, and monoliths invite the child within to come out to this sandstone playground. Because nearly a mile separates the highest and lowest elevations in the park, this otherworldly territory is home to a spectacular multitude and diversity of plant and animal life. Both the living and the inanimate are cause for jaw-dropping amazement in Zion.
The beautiful Virgin River, which carved the park's centerpiece, Zion Canyon, snakes below cliffs as much as 2,200 feet high. Here is where you will find the classic big wall climbs of Zion. Much like Yosemite, these walls require commitment. You will find beauty, serenity, and few other climbers on these difficult multipitch routes.